A floating device may be a surfboard, a floating bed, a boat, or a floatable seat. Several U.S. patents relating to these floating devices have been issued. For example, Lukanovich, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,799, provides a conversion kit that transforms a surfboard into a kayak. U.S. Pat. No. 6,918,347 to Lu discloses a variable, aquatic floating kit combining a seat for sitting or reclining. U.S. Pat. No. 3,074,084 to Bisch describes a flotation device comprising a buoyant body with seat suspended from opening in the buoyant body, allowing a person to sit in the opening. Boddy, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,925, discloses a rigid or semi-rigid chair-like flotation device suitable for whitewater use. U.S. Pat. No. 6,257,944 to Herod describes a paddle board providing various riding positions.
Williams describes, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,278, a portable, floating seat comprising an inflatable tube with a joining means at each end of the tubing for temporarily uniting the discontinuous ends of the tubing and an oversized seat structure attached directly to the bottom inside of the tubing opposite the position where the discontinuous ends are temporarily joined to permit the user's legs to pass therethrough into the water. Lundberg, in U.S. Design Pat. No. D465,823, provides for a flotation chair with the seating portion and back rest depending from the U-shaped floatation portion. U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,261 to Rosello Zoya, now expired, discloses an auxiliary seat for surfboards. Lauziere, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,765, describes a flotation device including an elongated, buoyant body with outwardly extending seat disposed between its longitudinal ends to supports a user in either a reclined or seated position.
These prior devices are useful for their intended purposes, but none of them is suitable for providing a fixed resting place in a river, lake, or in surf, particularly the latter or in the current of a river.